Enlaza Therapeutics, a La Jolla, CA-based covalent biologic platform company, raised $100M in Series A funding.
The round was led by Life Sciences group of J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Private Capital division, with participation from existing investors Frazier Life Sciences, Avalon Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Samsara BioCapital and new investors Amgen Ventures, Regeneron Ventures, Bregua Corporation, Pappas Capital, and Alexandria Venture Investments. Concurrent with the financing, Stephen Squinto, Ph.D., Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of the Life Sciences group of J.P. Morgan Private Capital, was named to the Board of Directors.
The company intends to use the funds to further develop its proprietary covalent protein technologies and advance wholly owned pipeline programs to the clinic.
Led by CEO Sergio Duron, Enlaza Therapeutics is advancing the field of covalent biologics via a proprietary covalent biologic platform, called War-LockTM.
War-LockTM creates highly specific therapeutic warheads that covalently bind to drug targets of interest. This white-space technology enables, for the first time, a covalent-acting protein drug that retains the selectivity of small-format biologics. These protein drugs enable specific covalent binding to an intended protein target, improving efficacy while simultaneously reducing toxicities related to sustained peripheral exposure.
The company’s Board of Directors is comprised of Stephen Squinto, Ph.D., J.P. Morgan Private Capital; Jamie Topper, M.D., Ph.D., Frazier Life Sciences, Jay Lichter, Ph.D., Avalon Ventures; Shelley Chu, M.D., Ph.D., Lightspeed Venture Partners; Marcos Milla, Ph.D., Samsara BioCapital, and Sergio Duron, Ph.D., CEO, Enlaza Therapeutics.
Commenting on the news, said: “This support will enable continued expansion of our covalent protein drug platform, establishment of a diversified pipeline that demonstrates the broad potential of this approach, and advancement of our lead assets toward clinical development.”
FinSMEs
30/04/2024